2 exits put race into semifinals

Thursday

Jan 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2008 at 4:32 PM

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- With Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani retreating to the sidelines, the presidential nomination battles narrowed to a pair of head-to-head contests yesterday as the remaining candidates dug in for five days of campaigning before a Super Tuesday showdown next week.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- With Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani retreating to the sidelines, the presidential nomination battles narrowed to a pair of head-to-head contests yesterday as the remaining candidates dug in for five days of campaigning before a Super Tuesday showdown next week.

Giuliani, who led the national Republican polls for much of last year only to see his support plummet in the opening weeks of the primary-caucus season, folded his campaign and immediately endorsed Sen. John McCain of Arizona at a news conference here.

"John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be the next commander in chief of the United States," Giuliani said with McCain at his side. "He is an American hero, and America could use heroes in the White House. He's a man of honor and integrity, and you can underline both."

Later, word of another big endorsement came: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is to endorse McCain today, six days before California's high-prize primary.

Edwards, whose angry populism and focus on poverty made him a distinctive voice in the Democratic race, ended his candidacy where it began, in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. "It is time for me to step aside so history can blaze its path," Edwards told supporters.

Edwards, however, said nothing about an endorsement of either Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York or Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, and advisers said he had no imminent plans to do so.

Edwards' departure left Clinton and Obama facing a potentially protracted contest that could extend past Super Tuesday to a string a primaries and caucuses stretching into March or beyond. Ohio's primary is March 4.

The two Democrats will meet for their first one-on-one debate tonight in Los Angeles.

The Republican race could reach an effective conclusion in Tuesday's balloting, with McCain, coming off his victory in Florida on Tuesday, determined to close out the challenge from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney signaled yesterday that he's not ready to commit to a costly campaign in the states holding primaries and caucuses next week.

Several officials said Romney's campaign was not attempting to purchase television advertising time in any of the states on the Super Tuesday calendar.

Instead, his current plans call for campaigning in California and other primary states, said the officials.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who finished fourth in Florida, still poses a potential obstacle to Romney, especially in many of the Southern primaries. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, meanwhile, has struggled to grow his support beyond a dogged but small anti-establishment constituency.

Clinton and Obama are in a frequently nasty personal fight, but not one that reflects deep ideological divisions or, as yet, threatens to leave the party badly divided.

Republicans, on the other hand, see the prospect of a clear fracture in their coalition as a result of the nomination contest. McCain is winning important primaries, but he is doing so without the support of the party's conservative or religious base.

"Even McCain's people would tell you they are close to finishing the job (of winning the nomination) politically, but ideologically they're not," said a strategist who has worked on behalf of another candidate.

As the Republicans gathered in Simi Valley for their second debate of the campaign at the Reagan library, Clinton and Obama hop-scotched across the Super Tuesday landscape on their way to their forum today.

Obama, after spending Tuesday in the Kansas town where his grandparents lived, headed to Denver for a rally and later to Arizona.

Obama offered effusive praise for Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, as he campaigned yesterday. "John has spent a lifetime fighting to give a voice to the voiceless and hope for the struggling," he told a crowd of 9,000 gathered inside the University of Denver basketball arena.

Clinton campaigned yesterday in Arkansas and Georgia. After her landslide loss in South Carolina on Saturday, Clinton focused on black voters, stopping to greet patrons at a Little Rock diner and then speaking to the National Baptist Conventions in Atlanta in the late afternoon.

Clinton thanked Edwards and his wife "for their years of public service." But she said she had not asked him for his endorsement.

The question of an Edwards endorsement coursed through the Democratic campaign in the hours after word of Edwards' decision became public. He has been in contact with both Clinton and Obama in the past 10 days in a series of private conversations that aides were reluctant to characterize yesterday.

Democrats close to Edwards cautioned that the choice may not be easy. Edwards sees strengths and weaknesses in both, according to Democrats close to the former senator.

There is evidence that Clinton may profit from Edwards' withdrawal. One Edwards adviser, who asked not to be identified, said Clinton may pick up support in Southern states that might have gone to Edwards, while Obama could benefit from support from liberal Democrats in states such as California or Minnesota.

In the GOP race, Giuliani will help McCain nail down victories in primaries in the Northeast and their big baskets of delegates. But he will do little to help McCain bridge the divide within the GOP coalition.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this story.

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